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The National Learn & Serve Challenge is entering the second year of its initiative to promote youth civic engagement and service learning. Learn more about the program and the Kick Off Week - October 18-24, 2010 - at the National Learn & Serve Challenge web site.

This archived page (below) is from Fall 2009.

October 5-12 is the start of an eight-month initiative called the Learn & Serve Challenge, a national call to action for schools, colleges, and youth-serving organizations.

The goal, simply put, is to engage young people in service-learning activities that address problems in their local and global communities.

The Challenge

Schools and communities nationwide will answer President Obama’s call and sign up for the National Learn & Serve Challenge October 5-12. Participants agree to implement a service-learning project during the coming school year.

The intent of these projects is to bring learning to life for students — challenging them to use the skills and knowledge they acquire in school to address problems in their local and global communities. NEA and its local affiliates are in a prime position to be leaders and role models in this national effort. Free online teaching resources, professional development, and grant opportunities will be made available throughout the year.  

About Service Learning

Service-learning is a teaching and learning strategy that integrates meaningful school/community service with instruction and reflection. Service-learning supports students in mastering important curriculum content, helping them make meaningful connections between what they learn in the classroom and its many applications in the real world. It enriches learning experiences, teaches civic responsibility, and strengthens communities. By implementing service-learning in our schools and communities, we:

• Support academic curricula through practical engagement.
• Give real-life meaning to students’ educational experience, enhancing social growth.
• Help develop tomorrow’s leaders by engaging them today.
• Provide structured, character-building programs for students who might otherwise not have access to these enriching experiences.

Why Now?

The administration is investing in economic recovery in five specific areas: education, health, community renewal, safety and security, and energy and the environment. But recovery is as much about what we’re doing in our schools and communities as what goes on in Washington. Through service-learning, students use the skills and knowledge they acquire in school to address the issues they encounter as part of local and global communities.

Commit During Kick-Off Week

Each year, more than a million students – from kindergarten to higher education – participate in service-learning activities. Service-learning occurs in schools as well as in collaboration with community partners such as Boys and Girls Clubs, the YMCA, Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, and business and faith-based organizations. See examples of successful service-learning projects.

Get Tips

Visit the Learn and Serve America's Web site to learn more about

• Getting your project underway 
• Integrating your project with your curriculum
• Teaching resources and project planning tools (available October 5)

Sign Up Today

Sign up at the Learn and Serve Challenge Web site. 

The Learn & Serve Challenge, a signature project of the National Service-Learning Partnership, is made possible by support from the State Farm® Insurance Companies Foundation.